College football betting hit its wildest Saturday of the season on Oct. 17, as five of the Associated Press’s top seven teams lost and the Heisman Trophy race shifted right along with the chaos. Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith remains the favorite after a quiet performance in a 19-15 win over Indiana, though his lead keeps narrowing as Miami’s Darian Mensah and Ole Miss’s Trinidad Chambliss each strengthen their cases. The week’s biggest mover is BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier, who crashed into the top tier by outdueling Notre Dame’s CJ Carr in a 28-24 upset of the Fighting Irish. LegalSportsReport tracks the odds and the players behind them below.
2026 Heisman Trophy betting favorites
The list below reflects the latest Heisman Trophy odds from FanDuel Sportsbook following a weekend that reshuffled much of the race.
- Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State: -115
- Darian Mensah, QB, Miami: +390
- Trinidad Chambliss, QB, Ole Miss: +650
- CJ Carr, QB, Notre Dame: +1600
- Jesse Legree, WR, Oregon State: +1600
- Bear Bachmeier, QB, BYU: +2200
- Gunner Stockton, QB, Georgia: +6000
- Josh Hoover, QB, Indiana: +10000
- Keelon Russell, QB, Alabama: +12500
Jeremiah Smith: The Ohio State wide receiver turned in a season-low four catches for 68 yards and a touchdown in a tense 19-15 win over Indiana, but he remains the overwhelming favorite at -115. His season totals, 52 catches for 984 yards and 12 touchdowns, still dwarf the rest of the field, even as his once-massive lead keeps shrinking.
Darian Mensah: Miami stayed unbeaten, outlasting Florida State 43-35 in double overtime as Mensah threw for three touchdowns but also turned the ball over for the first time all season. He has completed 80.8 percent of his passes for 1,764 yards and 18 touchdowns to go with 85 rushing yards and two more scores on the ground, and he remains the clearest threat to Smith at +390.
Trinidad Chambliss: No contender gained more ground this week than Ole Miss’s quarterback, who passed for 241 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-3 rout of then-No. 13 Missouri. Chambliss has pushed his way to +650, squarely into the top tier of the race.
CJ Carr: Notre Dame’s three-game winning streak ended in a 28-24 home loss to BYU, though Carr still completed 27 of 49 passes for 261 yards in the defeat. His odds lengthened slightly to +1600, but he remains in the mix behind the leaders.
Jesse Legree: Oregon State’s standout receiver has quietly put together one of the best seasons in the country, catching 46 passes for 1,040 yards and 14 touchdowns with at least 100 receiving yards in every game. He sits tied with Carr at +1600.
Bear Bachmeier: BYU’s quarterback authored the signature result of the week, completing 23 of 36 passes for 224 yards and accounting for three total touchdowns in a 28-24 upset of Notre Dame. Bachmeier’s odds have tightened to +2200 as the Cougars crash the Heisman and College Football Playoff conversations at once.
Gunner Stockton: Georgia’s unbeaten season ended in agonizing fashion, as Stockton threw for 272 yards and two touchdowns before a fumble with just over a minute left set up Auburn’s game-winning field goal in a 27-24 loss. His odds drifted out to +6000 as a result.
Josh Hoover: Indiana’s 22-game winning streak snapped against Ohio State, but Hoover was far from the problem, going 20 of 40 for 296 yards and a touchdown and finishing the game despite a hard hit to his throwing shoulder. His odds have lengthened to +10000 with the loss.
Keelon Russell: Alabama’s second straight loss was a rough one for Russell, who completed just 19 of 29 passes for 147 yards with two interceptions and no passing touchdowns in a 26-10 defeat at Tennessee. His only score came on a 19-yard scramble, and his odds have ballooned to +12500.he fourth quarter of a 20-17 comeback win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers. He finished 12 of 22 for 263 yards as Indiana improved to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the Big Ten, keeping the Hoosiers’ quarterback on the fringe of the conversation at 55/1.
Recent Heisman Trophy history
There have been 90 Heisman Trophy winners (91 awards) since the first one in 1935. One player, Ohio State running back Archie Griffin, won the award twice, in 1974 and 1975. The award was originally called the DAC Trophy and was given out by the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City, in recognition of the best college football player east of the Mississippi River. The award was later renamed for the club’s late athletic director, John Heisman, and the focus expanded to include college football players nationwide.
In the early years of the award, running backs dominated the field. It has been a different story in recent times, with quarterbacks winning the Heisman Trophy in eight of the last 10 seasons. All told, QBs lead the all-time list of winners by position with 39 Heisman wins.
| Season | Heisman Winner | Position | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Lamar Jackson | QB | Louisville |
| 2017 | Baker Mayfield | QB | Oklahoma |
| 2018 | Kyler Murray | QB | Oklahoma |
| 2019 | Joe Burrow | QB | LSU |
| 2020 | DeVonta Smith | WR | Alabama |
| 2021 | Bryce Young | QB | Alabama |
| 2022 | Caleb Williams | QB | USC |
| 2023 | Jayden Daniels | QB | LSU |
| 2024 | Travis Hunter | WR/CB | Colorado |
| 2025 | Fernando Mendoza | QB | Indiana |
USC now stands alone atop the school leaderboard with eight Heisman winners after Caleb Williams’ 2022 win pushed the Trojans past the pack. Oklahoma, Notre Dame, and Ohio State are tied for second with seven apiece. Alabama sits next with four, and two of those (DeVonta Smith in 2020 and Bryce Young in 2021) have come within the last 10 seasons.
Over the last 10 seasons, the SEC leads the conference race with four winners, the Big 12 has three, and the Big Ten, the ACC, and the since-dissolved Pac-12 have one apiece.
Heisman Trophy FAQs
Yes. Multiple online sportsbooks typically offer futures odds on potential Heisman winners, and those odds will shift as the season progresses.
Technically, all players in every division of college football are eligible for the Heisman. In practice, the award almost always goes to a player from one of the major Division I schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
A voting panel consisting mainly of media members who cover college football votes on the award. The voting panel also includes past Heisman winners and one sponsor vote that an online fan ballot decides.
Yes, though it’s extremely rare. Quarterbacks and running backs have dominated Heisman voting in most years. Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson remains the only primarily defensive player to win the award, taking it home in 1997. Colorado’s Travis Hunter came the closest since then, winning the 2024 Heisman as a true two-way player who racked up 92 catches for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns at wide receiver while also picking off four passes and breaking up 11 more at cornerback. His offensive numbers were strong enough on their own that he doesn’t count as a purely defensive winner, but no player has impacted a Heisman race on defense the way he did in decades.